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Neolithic was brought to Europe by maritime colonists

Ancient and modern mitochondrial DNA study links PPNB to modern populations of Cyprus and Crete

In recent years, ancient DNA has been obtained from Neolithic human remains, and this has provided a more reliable picture of the genetic impact of the European Neolithic than was possible with genetic studies of living populations. However, researchers have been hampered by the lack of data from the original farmers of Southwest Asia.

In a new study, published in the open access journal PLoS One Genetics, researchers report the successful extraction of mitochondrial DNA from fifteen out of 63 skeletons recovered from the Pre Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) sites of Tell Halula, Tell Ramad and Dja’de El Mughara, dating from between 8700 to 6600 BC.

The genetic profiles were compared with data obtained from human remains associated with the LBK and Cardial/Epicardial European Neolithic cultures. The researchers also looked for possible signatures of the original Neolithic expansion in the gene pools of present-day Southwest Asian and southern European populations, and tried to infer possible routes of the expansion by comparison with the ancient samples.

They were able to identify K and N-derived mitochondrial DNA haplogroups as potential markers of the Neolithic expansion, whose genetic signature would have reached both the Iberian coasts and the Central European plain. They also observed genetic affinities between the PPNB samples and the modern populations of Cyprus and Crete. However, no such link was found to modern populations of western Anatolia, suggesting that the Neolithic was first introduced into Europe by maritime colonists.